


Pumpkin Carving

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Gen, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2019-09-29 04:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17196509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: Crutchie prepares for Halloween alongside his closest friends.





	Pumpkin Carving

———–  
As far as Crutchie was concerned he was having the best Halloween of his life, and the greatest part about it was that it wasn’t even the thirty-first yet. He’d tried telling Davey that, and Davey in turn had tried telling him that he didn’t know the definition of Halloween. But that was Davey for you, always hung up on dates and stuff, not that Crutchie minded much. Davey had volunteered his house for the pumpkin carving after all, and he had offered all of them (Crutchie, Jack, and Katherine) steaming mugs of hot chocolate when they’d come in. Hell, it’d even been Davey who had suggested turning the pulp they’d scooped out of the pumpkins into pie later. Davey was in Crutchie’s good books, and no refusal to admit that Halloween was just a fancy word for October was going to change Crutchie’s mind on that matter.

Jack and Katherine were in Crutchie’s good books too. So was Les, who had left the kitchen to talk on the phone with some girl he liked a lot, giving Crutchie an extra pumpkin to carve. Even the bone deep cold outside, that always made Crutchie’s leg cramp extra bad, wasn’t bothering him all that much. The howling wind and the way it swirled the leaves around was downright atmospheric. The pumpkins smelled pumpkiny, and it was fun to hack faces into them with his knife. Katherine wore a look if intense concentration, her tongue sticking out between her teeth as she carved a flock if bats into hers.

Davey’s was just two triangles so far. “I don’t have any good ideas,” he explained.

“Just cut lots of holes into the thing,” Katherine suggested. “No matter what it is, it will look cool lit up that way.”

“The kids’ll be happy to see it,” Crutchie chimed in.

“They’ll be happy to get their grubby hands on the candy your ma bought,” said Jack.

Davey snorted a laugh.

“I don’t blame ‘em,” added Jack, casting Davey his most winning grin. Davey got the point, and got up to grab three Snickers bars. Katherine was half imitating Jack’s expression, and half batting her eyelashes in a ridiculously over exaggerated manner. Crutchie joined in, pulling the very best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

“You’re all ridiculous,” Davey informed them, and then tossed a Snickers to each of them. Crutchie could see the smears his hands, covered in pumpkin juice as they were, left on the wrapper. When he jammed the candy bar in his mouth, he tasted just a hint of the pumpkin on his fingers mixing in with the sweet chocolate. He turned back to his pumpkin, adding the finishing touches.

“Have a look at this, hey Jack!” Crutchie nudged his friend, who let out an appreciative whistle, even though Crutchie knew his pumpkin wasn’t nothing special.

“Jumping on the vampire bandwagon?” Jack asked.

“What vampire?” Crutchie smiled and tried to feign innocence.

“You know, like all those shows everybody seems to be watching. Vampire Diaries or whatever.”  
“I didn’t say what bandwagon Jack. I said what vampire.”

“Pay attention,” Davey added. Crutchie had known he’d like that comment.

“It ain’t a vampire Jack, and you know it.” Crutchie insisted.

“How do you explain the fangs then, huh?” Jack leaned on Crutchie for a second, one arm around his shoulder, and the other pointing to the sharp teeth Crutchie had carved into his pumpkin’s face.

“Don’t you see the resemblance, Jack? That’s you! It’s a jack-o-lantern, get it?”

That won a chuckle from Katherine. Jack put his head in his hands , and shook it. When he got up he ran his hand over his face, like he was trying to wipe the smile off of it. He didn’t succeed. His grin went all the way from one ear to the next.

“ Look,” said Jack, “I love all you guys, but I’m gonna need another six or seven candy bars to get through this.”

—–

Jack’s revenge came on the night of actual Halloween, October 31st. Six pumpkins sat upon the Jacobs family porch, the jack-o-lantern holding a prominent spot, not that it was anything much worth mentioning compared to the exquisitely rendered Crutchie-o-lantern that sat beside it, a perfect likeness of Crutchie’s face, fanged and beaming in the autumn night.


End file.
